TAF PUBLISHING

This study aims to address the behavior of project managers and project team leaders working in software houses in Pakistan. that how project managers and project team leads react when they have to deal with complex and riskier projects. This study explores the effects of project-related factors (project risk and shareholder relationship) on the software houses project manager's intention to leave their jobs and psychological distress. The mediating effect of intrinsic motivation is also explored. This study intends to overcome the existing gap, as, in literature, these variables' relationship is not studied. It was a time lag study based on two online questionnaires for data collection. Data was collected from the project managers and project team leaders of the software houses. A total of 40 software houses were used for data collection. The findings suggest that psychological distress mediates project risk, stakeholder relationship, and intention to leave. There was no significant mediating effect of intrinsic motivation. The results showed that the project manager's intention to leave depends on psychological distress. The data was collected from the software houses of twin cities of Pakistan. So its results cannot be generalized to all software houses operating in Pakistan. Data were obtained from software houses operating at large levels involved in multiple projects; less data was collected from the software houses operating at a small level. This study contributes to the existing body of knowledge of project management. The findings of this study will help the owners of project-based IT organizations to understand the project-related factors' contribution in developing project managers and project team leads intention to leave the job and how these factors affect their mental health that can lead to negative effects.